Parasvati - I don't think the topic here is whether or not we feel entitled to anyone giving us anything, and I think a very important distinction here is this: if you give me your watch, you no longer have a watch.

If you share a recipe with me, on the other hand, both of us have the recipe. And as a bonus, the way I see it, you have the warm and fuzzy feeling of sharing something with someone who values that thing, and I have the joy of trying a new recipe that I know to be fantastic, and thinking of the person who gave it to me as I cook.

It has been my experience that a love of food generally comes hand in hand with a generous spirit -- sharing food and knowledge with others if they ask nicely -- so I guess that's what I've gotten used to, but you are certainly free to do with your recipes as you please.

As KYHeirloomer said, it is obvious you feel strongly about this and I'm glad you took the time to post. I must say, however, that the main purpose of this forum is to be a platform for us all to share advice, opinions, stories and, when the occasion arises, recipes, so I hope you'll find a way to add your voice to those discussions without feeling we're robbing you of anything.

I would gladly share recipes. Just sit in my kitchen, watch and take notes
Seriously, I once worked with a lady who made the most decadent holiday cookies--prunes, walnuts, a dough based on cream cheese...ok, I'm back from the cold shower . She declined to give the recipe because she'd had too many times when she'd shared, and the person she'd shared with had tinkered with it in an effort to streamline it and it hadn't worked. So she just made a few extra for her fans. Much as I wished she'd recant, I respected her decision. And went on to develop my own cookie repritoire._________________"Food is an important part of a balanced diet..." Fran Leibowitz

I'm happy to share all my recipes, though I tend to follow the "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" method of cooking (and even baking). As others have written, it's nice to be able to share the foods I love with the people I love. My one exception is my standby for times when I am asked to bring a dish and don't have time or energy for something elaborate - savory cheese rolls, which everyone seems to like. To be honest, I want to have the option of making them available to me, and if all my friends had the recipe, that'll be the end of it , because they're really easy to make. But that's really the only one. There isn't anything wrong with just one secret recipe, right?

My grandmother used to make an amazing chocolate mousse and I strongly suspect she left some of the ingredients/instructions out when giving the recipe. That's something I would never do. Now she's in a nursing home, and nobody can recreate it .

That's one of the problems with grandma recipes: there's so much of her in there that's unquantifiable. My grandma, the one who could cook (bless the other one, she did make great Jello but not much else), measured with tableware and coffee cups. I managed, thanks to time in the kitchen with her, to figure out some of the measurements, but the carrot cake just hasn't been the same. *sigh*_________________"Food is an important part of a balanced diet..." Fran Leibowitz